Effacé
by sweetlyMistique
Summary: Trying to obscure her old life as a shinobi, Maiko leaves her blood-stained kunai knives for a more peaceful life. After five years, of living under a new name and profession, she is greeted by the man she has tryed so hard to run away from. Slight AU,OC.


The luminous stage lights graced every line of her lithe figure as she turned, leaped and pivoted to the sound of the euphonious symphony playing in the theater. Her chestnut curled hair bounced and whipped past her face after every graceful turn. While the dancer performed, she would recite the counts the choreographer hammered into all of the Lotus Gate Dance Company staff members' heads, including the stage managers. Because the choreographer, Kotone would antagonize at the poor stage crew for weeks for their "disregard towards art," for not opening the curtains in the proper cues, she would bitch to no end.

_**~Effacé/**_

It was rare for me to actually count while I danced. It just seemed so… unnecessary and on top of that boring. Imagine going 'one, two, three, four, and five, and six, and seven and eight,' then repeat. Aside from being boring, it also screwed up my whole counting system. I would go to the bank and count the money but never go over eight and receive weird looks from the teller. Especially the cute one named Kohaku, must have thought I was a total idiot. Perhaps if he glanced at my savings account he would think otherwise but what can a girl do, right?

But tonight I recited the counts for two purposes… well make that three.

Make sure I do not get yelled at by Kotone for not following the exact choreography (because she can bitch like there is no tomorrow.) Don't believe me? Ask the whole stage crew and they will testify and find her guilty for the accounts of being a complete and utter bitch and disturbance of the peace.

Not get scolded by Kokoro, the director of the dance company, because facing her wrath was much worse than Kotone's. Unlike her, she would resort to draconian methods if one were to screw up even the tansy bit.

And possibly the main reason was to distract myself from thinking about _**him**__._

But no matter how much I recited and even imagined the audience with just their underwear on, it was futile and gross for the latter. After every chaînés, I would take the opportunity to glance at the audience and look for that certain someone who seemed to have _excited _my week.

'_Could he be here? Or perhaps he's not here, there's no way he would show up with there being a far too dangerous risk. Heck I know I wouldn't!'_

Though a part of me desperately desired for him to come, it would give me a chance to see those _alluring _obsidian eyes that enchanted me many years ago, however another part of me, the "_realistic" _side of me would rationalize that it is virtually impossible for him to be present at the moment, due to the crimes he committed.

After all we did spend many times watching Law & Order; it is only natural for one to pick up some tips in criminology in case one did want to per say "make someone sleep with the fishes." Kidding of course! (Well for me at least.)

Alas, we really didn't think alike. In fact, we we're very different, it always made me wonder why on earth he even bothered to hang out with me. He was a prodigy, a natural born genius and I was well neither or.

In class I was a dreamer, you know that one kid that always dozed off. As a result, it always hurt me in tests because I never bothered to pay attention. On top of that, everyone in my graduating class I was the least skilled kunoichi, my instructor's were only proud of me for my flexibility and precision with throwing shuriken and kunai knives and that was about it. Which is probably not that great seeing as how my graduating class consisted of freakin' ninjutsu- einsteins. Overall I was the typical girl next door… well sort of.

To be frank, I was not meant to be a ninja, but coming from a prestigious clan it's was basically my only choice. This was cruel seeing as how my parents always asked me, "What you want to be when you grow up sweetheart?" I would always say with such enthusiasm, "A ballerina," and then I would be deluded with the whole idea that I can be anything I want to be. Bunch of lies and slander really I once thought.

Not until I left Konoha and began auditioning at theaters and finally became what I always aspired to be. Kinda like that whole the grass is greener on the other side. I think?

The grand finale approached, after the calypso leap I looked one last time at the audience with disappointment as the curtains began to close.

'_C'mon Mai, be realistic, you knew very damn well he wouldn't risk it by showing up. If he didn't come sooner why would that change now, after all these years._'

_**~Effacé/**_

She didn't bother to stay for the standing ovation that awaited the performers past the thick velour curtains. As the dancers all lined up behind the curtains, she began to go to the dressing room. Once she entered the room and locked the door, she started to take off the fake lashes that lined her heavy lidded eyelids, and then with a couple of cotton swabs she began to remove the thick crimson hue on her lips. As she removed the cosmetics her eyes wandered back to the letter that was folded and tucked neatly in her purse.

_Mai,_

_Leave now. They know._

_**~Effacé/**_

My mind kept racing back to the many unanswered questions all originating from the very vague letter that lay on my hands right now. It was unsigned, yet I had my suspicions from who it came from.

'_But how does he know, I left nearly a year after the incident. Could he have stalked me? No, that's not like him… or is it? Unless it wasn't him who wrote the letter, it could've been another person who happens to know my birth name. Another thing, who was they? Was it ANBU? Who was it!'_

It has been exactly a week since I received the letter and have been debating whether to wander around and establish myself in another village or stay in Kotogakure, the performing arts district of the Land of Snow.

With my thoughts all astray, I began to space out as I vigorously wiped off the makeup —Until I was abruptly brought back to reality with his velvet and husk voice.

"Excellent performance last night—you weren't kidding when you said you were better on the wood floor than the battlefield…"

_**~Effacé/**_

As soon as Maiko laid the last of the lipstick stained cotton swabs a sudden gasp escaped her lips before she suddenly turned around. And there, leaning on the clothing rack full of flamboyant- sequined costumes, was the man she had been thinking about the whole week. The man's crimson Sharingan eyes spun as it faded into the onyx orbs Maiko was familiar with.

"It's been too long," she wanted to say more but was hypnotized with his presence at the moment. "I'm surprised you showed up Itachi."


End file.
